Ipswich v Nottingham Forest: Preview, predicted line-ups & team news

Friday night football has a habit of exposing a team's nerves, and Forest arrive at Portman Road with plenty of those.

They have played seven league games this season and scored five goals, none of them at home.

They sit 19th, one point off safety and one place above the drop zone's very bottom, which is not the position anyone at the City Ground planned for.

Ipswich, by contrast, are a comfortable-looking 10th, though their form is the sort that makes you check the scoreline twice.

They beat Fulham 2-1 a fortnight ago, then lost 3-2 at Manchester City last Saturday, scoring twice at the champions-elect's place and still coming home empty-handed.

Ipswich have won three and lost four of their seven Premier League games, which has left them on nine points and 10th in the table.

The pattern is simple enough: they score, but they also concede, and the goals-against column is the worry.

They have shipped 15 in seven, an average of 2.1 a game, and are yet to keep a clean sheet.

Home has been kinder, with two wins from three and just four goals conceded at Portman Road, compared with 11 on their travels.

The visitors will fancy their chances of finding the net, but they will also know the hosts have a habit of finding a late goal themselves: six of Ipswich's 11 have come between the 76th and 90th minutes.

Forest have taken five points from seven games, with one win, two draws and four defeats.

The issue is at the other end of the pitch, because they have failed to score in four of their seven games and all four of those blanks came at home.

They have lost 1-0 to Arsenal and 1-0 to Coventry at the City Ground in recent weeks, and went down 3-1 at Crystal Palace in between.

Away from home they have actually been livelier, scoring five in three games, including a 2-1 win on the road and a 2-2 draw at Liverpool.

That is the glimmer for Forest. Take them out of Nottingham and they look like a different side, which makes this trip a better prospect than it first appears.

Ipswich's last seven league games read three wins and four defeats, with no draws, while Forest have won one, drawn two and lost four.

On the surface that gives the hosts a clear edge, but the underlying numbers tell a slightly more tangled story.

Forest have averaged 17.1 shots a game against Ipswich's 11, and their expected goals figure of 1.65 a game is actually a shade above the hosts' 1.5, so they have been unlucky in front of goal as well as blunt.

Ipswich's expected goals against is a worrying 2.02 a game, which suggests the defence has been fortunate to concede only 2.1 rather than more.

The trend that matters is Ipswich's goals and Forest's lack of them, though the underlying shot data hints that might not last.

Ipswich are 10th with nine points from seven games and a goal difference of -4, a point behind the cluster of Brentford, Leeds and Everton on 10 and level with Hull in ninth.

They are four points clear of Forest and three clear of Sunderland's lowly total, so the relegation picture is still distant for them, though a defeat here would start to make the table look uncomfortably tight.

Forest are 19th on five points from seven games, with a goal difference of -4.

They are level on points with 18th-placed Fulham (who have a better goal difference at -3) and one point behind 17th-placed Coventry on six, so safety is within touching distance.

Win at Portman Road and Forest leapfrog several sides in the bottom half, while defeat would leave them with five points from eight games and the hole getting deeper.

Ipswich can climb to within touching distance of the top half with a win, which would be a handy cushion, but it is only October and every side here knows how quickly things turn.

There have been 10 meetings between the sides, with Forest winning six, Ipswich two and two ending level.

The average is 2.8 goals a game, 50% have seen both teams score and 40% have gone over 2.5 goals.

The most recent was a 4-2 Forest win at Portman Road on 15 March 2025 in the Premier League, which came after Forest had also beaten Ipswich 1-0 in November 2024 and won an FA Cup tie on penalties that March.

The record clearly leans towards Forest, but it comes from a different era for both clubs and the evidence is mixed on how much it matters now.

The goals data is more useful than the winners column, because 50% BTTS and 40% over 2.5 suggests that this fixture is not the free-scoring affair that Ipswich's recent games might imply.

That chimes with Forest's struggle to score, and it makes the Over 2.5 Goals price of 3/4 look a little short, while both teams to score at 4/7 is more in line with where the evidence points.

A correct score of 2-1 either way is a fair lean, with Ipswich the more likely home winner on the evidence of their home form.

The biggest gap between these sides is in goals scored and conceded: Ipswich average 1.57 for and 2.14 against, while Forest average 0.71 for and 1.29 against.

It is a tale of two flawed teams, one that scores but cannot defend and one that defends better but cannot score.

The second gap is shots, with Forest averaging 17.1 per game and Ipswich only 11.

If that volume starts to produce goals, Ipswich's backline will have a long evening, because they have not kept a clean sheet all season.

Possession is much closer, at 43.1% for the hosts and 45.6% for the visitors, so neither side is likely to dominate the ball and it could come down to who makes better use of their moments.

Ipswich do tend to find them late, which is the sort of detail that decides Friday nights.

Kick-off at Portman Road is at 20:00 BST on Friday 23 October 2026.

A UK broadcaster has not been confirmed for this fixture yet, and we will update this page as soon as one is.

The game is live on our blog and pages, so you can follow the action there while the broadcast details are settled.

The value in this one sits in the middle of the market, not the extremes.

Forest's home blanks have drawn attention, but they are the away side here and have scored in all three away games, which makes the goals market more interesting than the winner.

Ipswich at home have scored in two of three, and they have conceded in every league game, so both teams to score has a solid base to work from.

The result is harder to call, hence a safety-first angle on the headline pick.